FROM THE U-T ARCHIVES

A friend of Brian Giles' ex-girlfriend has testified in a pre-trial deposition that she witnessed the Padres outfielder pulling his ex-girlfriend out of a car, pulling her by the hair and then nearly running her over.

The incident happened after the ex-girlfriend, Cheri Olvera, might have bumped Giles with the car while she was behind the wheel and he was standing in front of it, according to the witness.

The witness' account of the December 2007 incident is detailed in a partial deposition transcript obtained by The San Diego Union-Tribune. It was videotaped Jan. 30 as part of Olvera's $10 million palimony suit against Giles, who has denied the allegations and countersued Olvera.

The witness' name was not available because it was redacted from the transcript.

According to the transcript, the witness said she was frightened after Giles drove her and Olvera through a residential neighborhood at high speed, swerving and fishtailing the car. Olvera eventually got behind the wheel and tried to leave. Giles was in front of the car and Olvera “scooted” the car forward, possibly bumping him up onto the hood but “not in any fast manner,” according to the transcript.

“I don't know if he jumped onto the hood or if he was bumped onto the hood,” the witness stated.

She said Giles then pounded on the hood and told Olvera to get out. Olvera rolled her window down.

“That's when he put his arm in there and took her by the hair and pulled her out of the car,” the witness said.

Olvera's attorney, Cary Goldstein, asked her if Giles pulled Olvera through the car window by her hair. The witness replied, “I don't know exactly how. It was so fast, honestly.”

“But do you recall him pulling her by the hair, correct?” Goldstein asked.

“At some point, yes,” the witness said.

When the witness saw Olvera lying on the ground, the witness said she got out of the car and Giles got in. The witness said Olvera's legs were on the ground between the two wheels, prompting the witness to pull Olvera out of the car's way. The witness said she asked Giles not to move the car, but he quickly did so anyway.

“I don't know at what point he – I don't know if he paused,” the witness stated. “I don't know if I moved her and then he went.”

“But when he moved the car, did he accelerate rapidly?” Olvera's attorney asked.

“Uh-huh, yes,” the witness replied.

Tom Kirby, Giles' attorney, said Giles was trying to stop Olvera from driving drunk and said the witness wasn't sure how Olvera got out of the car.

“All the details I don't know,” the witness said. “I just know that he got her out of the car.”

When Olvera got out, the car started rolling into a tree and mailbox, the witness said. Kirby said Giles jumped into the car to prevent this.

Asked if she were afraid of Giles and felt “terrorized” by him, the witness said yes.

Giles' attorney has said Olvera was after Giles' wealth. Both sides have accused the other of a string of abuse.

In 2006, witnesses told police they saw Giles strike Olvera on their way out of a Phoenix bar – an incident that was partially captured on security video. Giles was required to complete anger-management counseling in exchange for the misdemeanor case being dropped.